152

ZERO REDUNDANCY RIDES AGAIN

DARR YL FRANCIS Hounslow, Middle sex, England

DITlitri BorgITlann ' s second book, Beyond Language (Scribner's) , was published in 1967. One of the articles in this book which par­ticularly fascinated us was that entitled Zero Redundancy. Borg­ITlann points out that the fir st letter of a word ITlay be anyone of 26; the second letter ITlay also be anyone of 26. Therefore, there are 26 x 26 (= 676) different two-letter COITlbinations with which a word can begin. In his article, BorgITlann presented a list of words which displayed 629 of the 676 COITlbinations -- a reITlarkably high figure. In the ITlO re than two year s that have elapsed since Beyond Language was published, this figure of 629 has undoubtedly been iITlproved. (We ITlanaged to find words beginning with SOITle of the 47 COITlbina­tions that eluded Bor gITlann. )

We were so iITlpre s sed with BorgITlann 1 s article that we decided to instigate the cOITlpilation of a sOITlwhat siITlilar list. Just as there are 676 different two-letter COITlbinations with which a word can be­gin so, too, there are 676 different two-letter COITlbinations with which a word can end. For how ITlany of these 676 word-ending COITl­binations could we find actual exaITlples? This was the starting point in our search.

Initially, we realized that our search would be ITluch ITlore time­consuITling than BorgITlann 1 s. Whereas Borgmann could open a dictionary or gazetteer and see almost at a glance whether it listed any word beginning with a particular letter combination, we, on the other hand, would have to search the entire contents of dictionar­ies and gazetteers to see if the saITle letter combination could be found at the end of a word. During the early stages in the cOITlpiling of our list, one particular reference book was of invaluable as sistance

'to us -- the University of Pennsylvania s Normal and Reverse Eng­lish Word List. VoluITles 5 to 8 of this work are a reverse listing of over 350,000 words and terms. The words are taken, to a large ex­tent, from the Second Edition of Webster I s New International Diction­

are all pe COITlbinati ces: Web tions. ane Those wo: taken fror words are

AA baa AB taxica AC sac AD tread AE tae AF loaf AG handbc AH shah AI Thai AJ- taj AK uITliak AL ITledic, AM slaITl AN pelical AO tao AP foolsc: AQ Iraq A R star AS pancre AT chitch; AU frau AV Slav A W squaw AX tax A Y yester AZ topaz

BA baITlba BB ebb BC Sko-ko BD nebd BE tube BF Xrdgls BG EH kthibh BI Gobi

ary.

In the list presented below there are 570 words and terms. They

BJ BK nabk BL probab:

er 1 s) ,

lar­

rg­)f 26;

are word which ure. guage ~d . )ina­

::ided there

n be­~th

5 com­; point

:ime­

.sted n

:ionar­)e

piling ;istance Eng­ing of ge ex­n.ction-

They

153

are all perfectly valid examples of 570 of the 676 different two-letter combinations. Most of these examples were taken from three sour­ces: Webster's New International Dictionary, Second and Third Edi­tions, and The Times Index- Gazetteer of the World (London, 1965) . Those words and terms which possess a number to their right were taken from other sources; these sources and the definitions of the words are given at the end of the article.

AA baa AB taxicab AC sac AD tread AE tae AF loaf AG handbag AH shah Al Thai AJ' taj AK umiak AL medical AM slam AN pelican AO ta.o AP foolscap AQ Ira'q AR star AS pancreas AT chitchat AU frau AV Slav AW squaw AX tax A Y yesterday AZ topaz

BA bamba BB ebb BC Sko-kobc (1) BD nebd BE tube BF Xrdglsknpmbf (2)

BG BH kthibh B1 Gobi BJ BK nabk BL probabl

BM BN tbn (3) BO hobo BP BQ Nabq BR Khabr BS dibs BT debt BU zebu BV BW' abw (4) BX BY bobby BZ Lub~

CA pica CB CC Ancacc CD Phacd CE trace

'CF CG Grantabrycg (5)

CH church CI cocci CJ Peicj (1) CK stick CL muscl CM CN hamsocn CO banco CP CQ Pontacq CR CS physics CT tract CU uturuncu CV CW CX Nerincx (6)

CY democracy CZ Baryc z

DA panda DB Badb DC DD add DE lemonade DF Schulzendf DG DH lamedh DI qadi DJ hadj DK Kwahadk ( 1) DL dirndl DM DN Grindadn DO torpedo DP DQ DR sadr DS afterwards DT veldt DU fondu DV Mordv DW Aberedw DX DY caddy DZ adz

EA sea EB neb EC par sec ED steed EE employee EF chef EG nutmeg EH kaneh E1 sei

154

EJ Avej EK trek EL steel EMtheorem EN hasten EO rodeo EP deep EQ Afeq ER overseer ES rabies ET diet EU feu EV Kiev EWknew EX kex EY monkey EZ fez

FA sofa FB FC FD okshoofd FE strife FF stiff FG FH cafh FI sherifi FJ FK Chotoksaufk ( 1 ) FL Qaf! FM FN Annwfn FO balafo FP FQ Bafq FR Geirstadaalfr ( 7)

F S briefs FT sift FU bungfu FV FW FX FY iffy F Z Trefz ( 6)

GA yoga GB

GC Egc (8) GD smaragd GE backstage GF GG egg GH sleigh GI magi GJ Rusht- Shengjergj GK Dobrilugk GL paebl GMparadigm GN reign GO bongo GP GQ GR Folkvangr GS tongs GT doigt GU Telugu GV Gjogv GW GX GY piggy GZ

HA brouhaha HB Nikhb HC Mayoahc (1) HD piabaireachd HE creche HF HG HH sahh HI Acanthi HJ ibn- Tughj (9) HK Ar dir a shk HL Kjeldahl HMohm HN demijohn HO Idaho HP Oohp (1) HQ Dimashq HR mohr HS alephs HT weight HU jehu HV Kuhv (6)

HW Sdok-al-bihw ( 1 ) HX Ras il- Wahx HY geography HZ

lA aria IB crib IC elastic ID slid IE pie IF waif IG prig IH sirih :II radii IJ Agij IK laik IL mail 1M maim IN main 10 Ohio IP battleship IQ zindiq IR stir IS this IT spit IU maniu IV spiv IW Hiw IX six IY Aiy IZ Agas siz

J A maharaja JB JC Bajc JD Nejd JE haje JF Schijf JG Tajg (~)

JH Dosanjh (6) JI haji JJ hajj JK satlijk JL mijl JMSejrn IN Azewijn JO banjo

JP I JQ JR f JS k JT I JU jl JV JW JX Jy 1 J Z .2

KA I KB 1

KC ( KD KE \ KF \ KG J

KH ~

KI t

KJ ] KKl KL] KMI KNJ KO~

KP KQ ~

KRl KS \ KT c Ktr I KV KWc KX r KY~

KZ

LA I

LBl LC t

LD LE LF ( LG J LH~

.w ( 1) JP Dronrijp JQ JR Hajr JS kinderbeweijs JT Dijt JU juju JV JW JX J Y Takhtadjy J Z Zoj z (8)

KA polka KB Atekb KC Cgwalikc (1) KD KE wake KF wakf KG AssaITleekg (1) KH Sikh KI tiki KJ Dobrianskj (6) KKbukk KL Kronwinkl KM hakITl (10) KN Bokn KO shako KP KQ TC'u-kukq' (1) KR Ratato skr KS works KT agitpunkt KU hokku KV KWdukw KX Nerinckx ( 11) KY sticky KZ

LA nebula LB bulb LC talc LD skewbald LE stale LF calf LG Firbolg LH Shilh

155

L1 ravioli NB shnb (3) LJ CrnoITlelj NC quidnunc LK talk ND blind LL football NE saline LMcalITl NF Genf LN kiln NG swing LO halo NH VietITlinh LP help NI Magani LQ Jalq NJ benj LR Ullr NK trunk LS victuals NL Reinl (6) LT ITlalt NM HouyhnhnITl LU lulu NN jinn LV Aurlandselv NO dOITlino LWwylw NP LX calx NQ CQokunQ (1)

LY silly NR Nawatanr LZ schITlelz NS teens

NT chant MA asthITla NU gnu MB bOITlb NV MC NW zzxjoanw (12) MD freITld NX jinx ME chiITle NY.funny MF buITlf NZ Gunz MG TaITlg (6) MH ollarnh OA boa MI salaITli OB cob MJ Wi.lhelITlj (11) OC roc MK naUITlk 0 D blood ML heITll OE floe MMdraITlITl OF hoof MN hYITln OG frog MO dynaITlo OH Shiloh MP hUITlp 01 octroi MQ SpuQpuQo' lEITlQ (1) OJ KaITlboj (6) MR GlathsheiITlr OK cook MS alITls OL cool MT dreaITlt OMfroITl MU eITlU ON invention MV 00 woo MW OP slop MX OQ Huqoq MY rUITlITly OR aviator MZ NiITlz (6) OS pathos

OT shoot NA tuna OU bijou

OV Lvov OW scarecrow OX cowpox OY buoy o Z arroz

PA spa PB PC Sierpc PD Sopd (13) PE shape P F Kultur kampf PG PH seraph PI scampi PJ PK Koapk ( 1)

PL cupl PM PN PO tempo PP stupp POK.'oa'pO(l) PR Dnepr PS reaps PT adept PU coypu PV PWCareg Ti-pw (14) PX 0 1 oat px (1) PY happy P Z Wiepz (6)

OA Luqa OB Ras en Naqb OC L. I pe' lEqc (1)

OD OE bawwaqe (3) OF waqf OS OH Sinurqh (10) 01 Iraqi OJ OK OL Haql OMSuqm ON

156

00 Uqoqoqo OP 00 riqq (3) OR Saqr OS coqs OT Heqt ( 15) OU Fuqu OV OW Chicaqw ( 1) OX OY Ateeqy (16) OZ Boqz

RA algebra RB barb RC arc RD standard RE threadbare RF surf RG Berg RH myrrh RI beriberi RJ Irj RK stark RL curl RMterm RN tern RO hero RP carp RO Jagharq RR err RS checkers RT alert RU ecru RV Morjarv RWmorw RX arx R Y merry RZ schwarz

SA me sa SB Visb SC disc SD Sasd SE phase SF Shusf SG Uruisg

SH hashish SI virtuosi SJ SK dusk SL Gos sl SMrealism SN hisn s6 las so SP cusp SO Dumare sq SR Oasr SS landmas s ST mist SU jujitsu SV SW Pertrisw (17) SX SY messy SZ Kuvasz

TA quota TB Outb TC Ckutc (1) TD TE state TF'Atf TG Neweetg (1) TH tenth TI cogno scenti TJ Torrutj TK Totopitk TL atlatl TM Butm TN Gae savatn TO pimento TP TO Gyimanoitq (1) TR natr TS draughts TT butt TU impromptu TV TW TX Felanitx TY knotty TZ blintz

UA Chi UB stu] UC bon UD stu( UE flUE UF Inu: UG slu UH gar UI enn UJ Kal UK Lal UL fou UMscu UN sho UO quo UP cou UO Mu UR fou US aba UT sto UU mu UV str UWpaa UX flu;

UY guy UZ Hal

V A sur: VB VC LuJ VD hea VE ra\ VF VG VH VI ata VJ Ta: VK LiI VL Ya: VMoa, VN fay

VOoct VP VO VR VS Sla VT Ka

l )

UA Chihuahua UB stub UC bonduc UDstud UE flue UF Inuf UG slug UH garookuh UI ennui UJ Kahnuj UK Labuk UL foul UM scum. UN shotgun UO quo UP coup UQ M-·.lrzuq UR four US abacus

,UT stout UU m.'.lum.uu UV struv UWpaauw UX flux UY guy UZ Hauz

VA supernova VB VC Lukovc (8) VD heavd VE rave VF VG VH VI atavi VJ Talvj (5)

VK Lipuvk V L Yaro slavl VM oavm. (18) VN favn VO octavo VP VQ VR VS Slavs VT Karachayevt

157

VU kivu VV VW VX· VY skivvy VZ

WA arawa WB Towb (6)

WC Ynawc (19) WD crowd WE owe WF dowf WG dowg WH Galyawh WI Ma.lawi WJ Um.m. Ar Rawj WK squawk WL fowl WMcwm. WN brown WO two WP gawp WQ Harat Bu Shawq WR Alltm.awr WS news WT newt WU Balawu WV WWJaww WX WY blowy WZ blowz

XA paradoxa XB XC XD XE axe XF XG XH Gor anxh (8) XI taxi XJ XK Dzoxk (15) XL cacom.ixl XM

XN XO m.yxo XP XQ XR XS Bexs (2) XT text XU Inxu XV XW XX Foxx (20) XY sexy XZ

YA papaya YB Sleyb YC acronyc YD Lloyd YE rye YF Algar syf YG tyg YH Suwayh YI Ikoyi YJ Kryj (6) YK bashlyk YL phenyl YMonym YN podogyn YO embryo YP polyp YQ Shuqayq YR zephyr YS anyways YT treckschuyt YU Kikuyu YV Kirke- Syv YWvenyw (21) YX onyx YY Galim.yy Y Z Qyrghyz

ZA plaza ZB ZC ZD Orma.zd ZE sneeze ZF ' azf ( 3)

158

ZG Djenienbou Rezg ZN Wezn Z U Zuzu ZH 1zh ZO intermezzo zv Z1 Nazi ZP ZW ghazw (9) ZJ Wasaazj (1) ZQ Rizq (6) ZX ZK Berdyzk ZR Khezr ZY lazy ZL Arzl ZS Pajzs (6) ZZ buzz ZMPuzm ZT Liszt

In the cour se of our searche s l however l we encountered several examples of a word or term about which we had doubts as to their va­lidi ty with regard to inclusion in our list. In all there were 25 such doubtful examples. We shall disc~ss the shortcomings of these here. We shall leave the reader to decide which of the 25 can legitimately be added to the list of 570 above. The words and terms fall into a number of main groups.

The first group of words is that where the words have a hyphen between the last two letters. Such a hyphen offends, to a certain ex­tent, our esthetics. Perhaps the reader will not be as offended as we are. There are five exam?les in this first group:

a) Sha I b- J, a place in Aden in the Time s Index- Gazetteer. b) Mnd-X, the name of an organization dealing in prefabricated

buildings, listed in the October 1967 London telephone di­rectory.

c) Khuruf- J, a plac e in Aden in the Time s Index- Gazetteer. d) Yak-v, the surname of an author listed in the British Museum's

General Catalogue of Printed Works (he had a work published in Mo scow in 1862) .

e) Solv-X, the name of an ingredient in Quink ink, manufactured by a British company called Parker's.

A second group of terms is that where one of the component words of a term (but not the last word) ends with an interesting letter com­bination. We hate to pick individual words from multiword terms. It is for this reason that the three words below which we have underlined leave us with some doubts:

f) Brushg Horn, a mountain in Switzerland listed in the Time s Index- Gazetteer.

g) Thanp Shah Beg, a place in Pakistan listed in the Times Index- Gazetteer.

h) Zzyzx Springs l a place in California mentioned in Dmitri Borgmann's Beyond Language as being on a map of San Bern­ardino County published by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

One 0

combinati an interio the penult a place in

A thir James Jo' this grouF

i) mb j) blu

The exact from A C< of Mi.nnes ings of th~

Edgar with anoth ter shave way in wh

p) gxx q) stx

A fOUl

letter chi letter s. Webb Hod index of H letter X. concerned

v) Nuc 1nd:

w) St§, qui;

So far others do with them

x) We: 1nd sor mi:

~ral

r va­llch lere. ely a

en

ex­lS we

ed

~uml s

hed

red

vords om­,. It ~lined

s

159

One of the entries in the Times Index-Gazetteer is essentially a combination of the se fir st two groups t distinguishing feature s, i. e. an interior word of a multiword term which has a hyphen between the penultimate and ultimate letters. The entry is Zuq-J Am, again a place in Aden.

A third class of words is that containing literary inventions. James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake provides us with seven examples in this group. The words are:

i) mbv k) lifp m) lispn 0) dorhqk j) bluvv 1) blzb n ) pthwndrclzp

The exact locations of these words in Finnegan's Wake can be found from A Concordance to Finnegan's Wake by Clive Hart (University of Mi.nnesota Press, 1963). We shall not attempt to explain the mean­ings of the words to the reader.

Edgar Allen Poe I s short story, II X-ing a Paragrab'l, provides us with another six example s for the group. In Poe I s story, certain let­ters have the letter 0 replaced by the letter X. This accounts for the way in which the following wof ds arise:

p) gxxd r) xf t) bxg q) stxp s) fxr u) slxw

A fourth group of words is that in which the words have the Greek letter chi (which we denote by §) • the chi occurring in the last two letter s. The two words in this group are both taken from Frederick Webb Hodge's Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. The index of Hodge I s book treats the lett,er chi as being equivalent to the letter X. We are uneasy about this - - is the reader? The two words concerned ar e:

v) Nuchalkm§, a spelling of Nuhalk, a division of the Bellacoola Indian people

w) St§uai §n, another name for the Siksika, an important Algon­quian Indian confederacy.

So far we have dealt with 23 of the 25 doubtful words. The two others do not fall neatly into any of these groups, so we shaD deal with them individually:

rn­ x) Welsh Indianv. This is listed by Hodge as a variant of WeI sh

n Indians. But Hodge points out that it is listed only because some of the early literature on Welsh Indians contained the misprint Welsh Indianv. Doe s the fact that Welsh Indianv is

----

160

systematically listed by Hodge make it acceptable? Or does xs Hodge I S indication of it being a misprint invalidate it? We ( 3) Sib find it difficult to decide. ( G.

y) YHVH. This is a transliteration of the tetragrammaton, a bn Hebrew word constituting a divine proper name. It is listed in the Webster dictionaries, but it offends our instinctive nbI sense as to what a word is. We find it difficult to accept the qe word without misgivings. Does the reader? ,) qq

zf .

Assuming that we add these 25 doubtfuls to the previous 5'70, we ar­ ( 4) Eg(

rive at a total of 595. Will the reader help us reach 600 exampl e s? Ori

And then onward to 676? Or J perhaps the r-eader can improve on the ( 5) The

25 doubtfu1s that we have mentioned. Please help. Ole ( 6) Sur

REFERENCES Br< LOI

(1) Frederick Webb Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of LOl

Mexico (New York, 1965) Lo!

bc - a spelling of Skokomish, an Indian tribe LOl

cj - a name used for Peco s, a pueblo of New Mexico LOI

dk - a name used for Quahatika, an Indian tribe of Arizona ( 7) E.(

fk - a spelling of Chatoksofki, a former Indian town in Alabama 196 hc - a name used for the Kiowa, an Indian tribe ( 8) Pel

hp - a name used for the Navaho, an important Indian tribe USE

hw - a spelling of Snoqualmu, a division of the Salish Indian tribe gc kc - a spelling of Shgwaliksh, a former Indian village in the J Z •

state of Washington vc kg - a 17th-century Indian village, probably in Massachu-setts xh kq - a spelling of Chukukh, an Indian village in Oregon ( 9) P.l mq- a spelling of Spukpuko1emk, an Indian band found on the hj

coast of British Columbia nq - a name used for Shahanik, an Indian village in British zw

Columbia (10) EgE pk - an .Indian town on the coast of British Columbia ~ pq - a variant spelling of Koapk (see above entry) km

px - another variant spelling of Koapk (see above entry) qh

qc - a name for Palux, a division of the Chinook Indian tribe I ( 11) All

living in the state of Washington Yo1qw - a spelling of Chicago kx

tc - a spelling of Shkutch, an Indian village of Oregon tg - a spelling of Nawiti, an Indian town formerly on the north mj

coast of Vancouver Island, Canada ( 12) Ru

tq - a name used for the Kitlope, an Indian tribe of British 19' Columbia (13) A.

zj - a spelling of Osage, an important Siouan tribe an

(2) General Catalogue of Printed Works, British Museum. ( 14) Or

bf - the pseudonym of Louis Poinsenet de Sivry Er

161

does xs - the sur name of Theodorus Dominicus Bexs, an author We (3) Sibyl M;ucuse, Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary

(Garden City, 1964) l, a bn - an alternative spelling of teben, a barrel drum of ancient isted Egypt re nb - a metal trumpet of ancient Egypt )t the qe - an Arabian trumpet

qq - a tambourine of modern Egypt zf - a 9th- century open- stringed Arabian instrument

\Fe ar­ (4) Egon Welle sz, The New Oxford History (Volume 1: Ancient and pI e s? Oriental M'.lsic (London, 1957) - an Egyptian horn on the (5) The New Century Cyclopedia of Names (New York, 1954) - an

Old Engli sh spelling of Cambridge (6) Surnames listed in various telephone directories:

Brooklyn. 1967-8 - Trefz, Wiepz London, October 1966 - Tamg

'th of London, October 1967 - Nerincx, Nimz, Reinl, Rizq, Pajzs London, February 1968 - Tajg, Towb London, May 1968 - Dosanjh, Dobrianskj London, September 1968 - Kuhv, Kamboj, Kryj

(7) E. O. G. Turville- Petrie, Myth and Religion of the North (London, bama 1964) - a nickname of Olaf in Scandinavian mythology

(8) Permanent Committee on Geographic Name s for British Official Use, A Gazetteer of Albania (London, 1946)

l tr ibe gc - a sma.ll village in Albania j z - a village in Albania vc - a mountain peak in Albania

ts xh - a village in Albania (9) P. K. Hitti, History of the Arabs (New York, 1964)

e hj - Muhammad ibn- Tughj was the founder of a Turkish dynasty called Dchshidid in 935 A. D.

zw - a raid which is part of the lore of the Bedouin tribe (10) Egerton Sykes, Everyman I S Dictionary of non- Clas sical Mythol­~ (New York, 1952) km - an early Arapi an name for the moon qh - the bird of immortality in Per sian mythology

e ( 11) Albert M. Hyamson, A Dictionary of Universal Biography (New• York, 1951)1 lex: - Charle s Nerinckx was a Belgian-American mt s sionary

who died in 1824 rth mj - the surname of a German violinist who died in 1908

(12) Rupert Hughe s, Music Lover I s Encyclopedia (Garden City, 1947) - a Maori drum

(13) A.H. Sayee, The Religion of Ancient Egypt (Edinburgh, 1913) ­an alternative name of Siriu s

(14) Ordnance Survey Office, Gazetteer of Great Britain { Che s sington, England, 1953) - a place in South Wales

162

( 15) Maria Leach. Funk and Wagnall' s Standard Dictionary of Folk­lore, Mythology and Legend (New York, 1949) JESU qt - a frog-headed goddess in ancient Egyptian religion and

ITlythology xk - the underworld of ArITlenian ITlythology

(16) The Middle East and North Africa (18th edition) (London, 1966) ­the surnaITle of AbdulrahITlan SaliITl Al Ateeqy, a Kuwaiti di ­ploITlatist born in 1926

(17) The Language and Literature COITl::nittee of the Board of Celtic FAITH Studies of the University of Wales, A Gazetteer of Welsh Place­ Mor ri st NaITles (Cardiff, 1967) - a spelling of Patrisio, a parish in Brecknockshire, Wales As c

(18) Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary (London, 1898­ whether

1905) - an English dialect spelling of oven proof or (19) Robinson and Wilson, The Encyclopedia of Mtths and Legends two weI:

of All Nations (Garden City, 1950) - one particular British sur­ a pun. vivor of a battle fought between the Irish and the British,and who is ITlentioned in Nor se legend The

(20) The World A1ITlanac (New York, 1967) - JiITlITlY Foxx was a New Te proITlinent AITlerican League baseball player, and a ITleITlber of stateITle the National Baseball Hall of FaITle whoITl h

( 21) J. A. H. Ml1rray, A New Engli sh Dictionary Based on Historical Ar aITlai, --£rincip1es (Oxford, 1928) - a spelling of venue uine dOl

in J e su~

The: to go th Kingdon surd as teITlpted Jesus w it was c through ITlaic?) confuse, If we co has con

The Jesustl guage h lations'

The is J e su ~

build ITl being a